Chapter 15 - Red Rage
Once America had gotten Scott and Lorna close enough to Cassie's position that they could start a search, they hadn't lost any time getting to work. Scott watched Lorna's back and coordinated what he could remotely while Lorna kept one hand in front of herself as she felt her way toward where she could sense adamantium.
At some point, Heather had joined them, flying in low until she spotted them. And only about an hour after that, Lorna had locked in where they needed to go - all Scott and Heather had to do was follow the angry, flying woman.
But as they got closer to the facility, it looked like there was already a commotion going on. The guards outside were on high alert, and Heather identified a few commands they heard over the radios. There were casualties inside. On the department's end.
By that time, Scott had switched out his glasses for his visor, but for this - for getting inside - he didn't need that. "Heather, you're on extraction. Lorna and I will deal with the rest," he said and let loose a red beam that plowed through the outer fences, the guards, and the outer wall, opening a way for them to rush inside.
For Heather, it was like nothing she'd ever seen. She'd seen Magneto stop bullets, of course, and Lorna was doing a fine impression of her father with a bubble that weapons couldn't penetrate - but that was even more impressive paired with Scott, who hadn't seemed to realize that he wasn't using his visor, simply rushing alongside Lorna and hitting every door and guard in their path - anything she couldn't deal with on her own, anyway.
It was deadly - and extremely effective. Heather somehow doubted that the guards crumpled in their armor or the ones who had been blasted hard enough to stop hearts were going to get up again.
The only thing that slowed them down was when they rounded a corner and Lorna suddenly dropped.
"Dampener," Lorna said tersely, and Scott nodded, reaching for the small of his back.
"Too bad for them it doesn't work on my suit," Heather said before she shot down the hall, blasting a path to wreck it for them.
Lorna glanced at Scott, who smiled grimly. "She said she wanted to get the kids out," he said, and Lorna returned his smile before they took off after her.
They were an efficient team, though they got to a split when they spotted what must have caused the earlier ruckus: someone had left behind a trail of bodies.
Lorna frowned at the trail and looked down the opposite hall. "I'm feeling adamantium this way," she said.
"Go check that out," Scott said. "I'll follow this and help whoever got out. Heather, stick with Lorna. I'll go catch up to my backup."
"Alright, but I'll keep an ear out anyhow," Heather said.
"And so will I," Scott said, already running down the path, noting with approval the fact that the dampeners down this way all seemed to be telekinetically crushed. He was hoping that was one of his kids.
He turned down two different hallways of downed guards before he heard a blessedly familiar voice saying, "I mean, you sure you're not making the same mistakes as your brother here?"
"Alex!" Scott called out, running around the corner, relieved to see at least two of his missing family members, though he couldn't manage to smile when he saw the state of them: exhausted and pale, with an obvious broken arm on Alex's side and bruises and cuts all over both of them. "Nate, god, I've been looking for you."
Whatever Scott had been expecting, it was definitely not to be hit with a blue beam from an angry-looking Alex. It didn't do anything, but it was still surprising.
"What the hell?" Alex said, looking as if he simply couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"What do you mean - you're the one that shot at me," Scott said, gesturing down at himself, his eyes still bright and glowing. "How did you get out? Do you know where the others are?"
"You've got some nerve asking questions right now!"
Scott wanted to shout back, but he recognized the tone of desperation in his brother's voice, so he bit back his own sharp response. "I'm trying to help!"
"Um … let's talk later. For now, just be glad we got out," Nate said. "And no, I don't know where they are. Honestly … I'm not sure who they have and who they don't," he added, glancing toward Alex with a look that said so much that Scott didn't understand.
Scott frowned and looked past them to see that the trail of bodies continued beyond the two of them. But before he could say anything else, he heard Nate project: Dad?
Scott looked his way and saw Jean. Nate looked so much like his dad that it was easy to joke about how much the two of them were the same person, but all he could see in Nate was hurt and rage. Rage like the Phoenix, even though Rachel had it.
But his projection sounded small. Young.
Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry it took me so long to-
Before Scott could finish the thought, Nate was right there, both arms around him and holding on tight. And Scott returned the favor in kind, holding on just as tightly, practically clutching his son to him as he again whispered how sorry he was that he had taken so long to find him.
"I totally get that sentiment," Alex said as he made his way over, too. "But we need to get out of here - and since you came up behind us, I'm going to veto continuing down this path."
"What's down that way?" Scott asked.
"A pissed-off Sinister," Nate said, making a face as he stepped back from Scott - but kept glancing at him as if he was afraid he'd disappear.
"Of course he's here," Scott said under his breath before he went to his comm. "I've found Alex and Nate; any luck on your end?"
"I'm not sure luck is the right word," Lorna said. "I think we need help. It's not … there's no assault, but this is … just get down here."
"On our way," Scott said. He put his hand on Alex's shoulder, raising both eyebrows when he saw the look of pure shock on his face. "I'm sure I'm missing something. Tell me on the way?" he offered, already running back down the way they'd come.
"Oh, you know. Just … the usual stuff I shouldn't have paid any attention to. Like watching you die, more or less," Alex said, trying to sound casual even though his voice was strained.
Scott paused, frowned, and then reached over to shove Alex's good arm - which was as much as he could do when they were running back toward Lorna. "You should know by now I'm going to outlive everyone and be miserable about it."
"Yeah, sure," Alex said, trying to force a smile. "Obviously. What was I thinking?"
"You weren't," Scott said, also forcing a smile, though the conversation died off from there as they focused instead on running to where Lorna was waiting for them in a doorway, looking upset.
"I just got off the comms with Natasha," Lorna said. "We need to find May Parker - or someone who understands how to get them out of these without filling their lungs with liquid."
Scott's heart dropped as he understood immediately what they were about to see, even though Lorna was standing in the doorway. "Who?" he asked in a breath.
"James, Billy, and Rachel," Lorna said, seeing no reason to hide the truth.
"Okay, but … that means we have three we can get out," Alex said, then tried to go for a mild tease. "Hey gorgeous. Sorry you had to come get us."
Lorna spared him a smile, though she was eyeing his broken arm. "I just wish we could have gotten here faster," she said.
"Too bad you're not the one that can wish things into being," Alex said.
"Are you saying you'd rather my sister was here?" she asked, finally breaking into a teasing smirk.
"Never."
"That's what I thought."
Scott shook his head at the two of them, slipping past them to stand in front of the Genesis tubes, watching with a frown as two of his children and his soon-to-be son-in-law floated in front of him.
"I've got Peter Parker on the line," Heather told him quietly as she looked over the controls. "I'll get them out, and they should wake up not long after they're home." She nodded toward the panel she was looking at. "I understand the mechanics, and he's seen enough of these to understand the biological risks. Shouldn't take us long."
Scott nodded, not trusting himself to speak just yet. And when he did, he simply asked, over his shoulder, "Do you two know where the others are?"
"We didn't even know who lived through the assault, Dad," Nate said in a strange, strained tone.
"We're still missing Tommy, May, Bobby, Warren, Tyler, and Steve," Scott said, doing a mental head count.
"I've got things here if you two want to rampage through the rest of the place," Heather offered, already at work on the controls.
"I don't know how much rampaging I'm good for," Alex said, shifting how he was standing, still obviously hurting. His arm hadn't healed properly, even though it had been weeks; it still obviously hurt him even if it was no longer a sharp, searing pain.
Scott nodded. "Nate, stay with Heather and Alex," he said. "Lorna and I will find the others. We have a few more people coming this way to help get everyone home." Once he saw Nate nod, he turned away from his floating kids and stalked out the door, his eyes glowing.
Once again, he and Lorna were moving in perfect synch, blasting through guards and flinging open doors as they went. They were slightly slower than they were when they had Heather, if only because they didn't always see the dampeners until they were in their area of effect. But the first time that happened, Scott simply reached for the small of his back and tossed Lorna a gun and took one for himself. Once they found the dampeners, they shot them down, and then, it was back to optic blasts and magnetic bubbles.
It helped, of course, that the forces seemed to be divided dealing with multiple groups of heroes and Sinister, apparently. But there was a higher concentration of guards in the north end of the facility.
"There's adamantium this way as well," Lorna said. She hadn't yet told Scott what she had felt when she found James, but considering how she had been navigating thus far, she was sure Scott knew already. "It's not as concentrated, but they're using it here."
"They don't want to lose any more of their weapons," Scott said through his teeth, his eyes brighter on the last word. He didn't even have to tell Lorna what he was planning; she saw the look on his face and stepped to the side, letting him blast a full, wide beam into the guards.
He started running even as the beam was going, trusting Lorna to keep them both safe. He could hear the rapport of gunfire, but she didn't let it touch them.
At least, until one canister got through, stopping at the edge of the bubble before it could get crushed.
Scott heard the hiss of the gas and swore, but there was nothing he could do as the tear gas hit him and Lorna both. Blinded, coughing, Scott felt Lorna's hand on his arm and heard her coughing beside him as well. She could still follow the sense of metal, so he let her lead, but they were reeling badly, and it didn't take long for the soldiers to rush in to take advantage of the sudden lack of optic blasts.
The soldiers were all shouting commands from various vantage points, and the sound of weaponry rattling was unmistakable as they leveled their threats on the two of them - but it also let Lorna know where their weapons were. For as enraged as she was, that was a very bad move on their part, but they didn't seem to realize that she could lean into her temper very much like her father. Another shouted command later and Lorna crushed every weapon they had - popping off a few more tear gas canisters on the soldiers as she tore off their gas masks by the buckles, leaving them in just as dire straits as she and Scott were dealing with. But it wasn't helping the ventilation issue.
One of the soldiers reached out blindly - still trying to do his job as he grabbed a hold of Scott's arm. They were all coughing and trying to clear their eyes, but getting grabbed was the last thing Scott was about to put up with. Before the guy could get a solid grip, Scott started swinging. He managed to connect solidly with the guy's gut and then, once his arm was free, spun to slam the soldier against the wall. He was blinking madly the entire time, trying to clear his eyes long enough to open them even for a moment.
Finally, he managed it - and let loose the strongest blast he could manage at the wall, stepping back from the guy he had slammed into it to let the wall collapse on him - ventilating the area at least a little more.
"This is going about as well as I'd imagined," Lorna said between coughs as she pulled the rebar out of the walls and fashioned a chamber for them to step into to get away from the gas faster.
Scott leaned against the wall as soon as she finished the chamber, pressing both hands into his eyes. "Yeah, I'm not terribly surprised either. Wonder who they've got back there."
"How do you want to go forward?" Lorna asked. "At this point, I'm considering just yanking the metal to me."
"Yeah, I'm just worried some of it might be around wrists," Scott said. "Or in Tyler again."
"It doesn't feel like it's shaped that way, but you make a good point," Lorna agreed, then directed them toward the pull of adamantium, opening the chamber in the direction they needed to go now that they'd had a few seconds of clearer air. "We'll find out soon enough anyhow." She paused before they got closer to the block she knew they were headed to, still coughing and blinking. "Do you think Heather and Alex can handle things with Nate?"
"I think Alex doesn't need his arm to blast people, and Heather's madder than I've ever seen her. If they get caught again, they'll take half the place down with them, and we'll get them out on our way out."
Lorna nodded. She wanted to ask about the genesis tubes, but wasn't about to crack that mess open yet. "Ready when you are," she said instead, tipping her head toward where she'd felt the pull.
"I'm right after you," Scott promised.
With that, the two of them burst forward, refreshed enough from being able to breathe that, even in the still-dissipating haze, they were able to get back into their rhythm, pushing through the guards until they reached a hallway lined with cells - the bars of which turned out to be the source of the adamantium Lorna had been sensing.
"Tommy," Lorna breathed out, her voice tight. She'd seen him first, but Scott wasn't far behind, and he nearly lost a step too when he saw the unconscious young man on the cot - and the fact that his arm was missing from the elbow down.
All at once, the doors came right out of the walls all the way down the hall - revealing the only other person being held there. With a wave of her hand, Lorna broke open the chains holding Steve bound - and then, she rushed over to Tommy to rouse him, breaking open his collar first and foremost.
Scott watched until he saw Tommy's eyes open. And then, without even thinking about it, he started to back away. "I'll find the others," he told Lorna. "They won't get away with this." With that, he spun on his heel and took off at a run, angrier than he could remember being in a long, long time.
He wasn't even fully aware of his movements because he had slipped into autopilot, blasting through anything in his path. His mind was more on the horror he had seen, the broken and missing limbs, the Genesis tubes, the adamantium, the way Nate had clutched onto him.
He also wasn't aware of the fact that he was angry enough to hit every single soldier and scientist with the full force of his optic blasts - and he hadn't even approached the headache that signaled the start of the end of his powers in the past. James had been right; he wasn't nearly as throttled back as he had been before. And he hadn't even noticed it.
He turned when he heard a loud sobbing sound and rushed that way, only to see May Parker, obviously hurt as she was held between two guards. But she didn't seem to be the focus of the soldiers' attention. That was Bobby - on the other side of heavy bars, looking furious as the soldiers jostled May.
It seemed like the department was trying to salvage what they could of their operation. On the other end of the hall, Scott could see some with weapons raised toward a cell containing Tyler. But the ones addressing Bobby…
Scott could actually feel his blood run cold, and his hearing fuzzed out. He didn't get the specifics of what the soldiers were saying because he was so focused on trying to get a breath, but it seemed the department wanted to make a weapon out of Bobby - and were threatening May to get Bobby to come along with them so they could flee to a new facility.
"Oh, hell no," Scott said, already rushing forward to deal with the soldiers.
The first soldier holding May saw Scott headed toward him and hesitated. He knew he needed to keep his weapon on May, but … "Don't move!" he barked Scott's way. "I will shoot her!"
"Sure," Scott said, holding his hands up and looking right at him - so that the second the soldier looked like he thought the move had worked, Scott's already-red eyes glowed brighter, and the soldier who had shouted dropped, his chest crumpled with the force of a blast. The one on May's other side went down in a heartbeat the same way.
"Get Bobby out," Scott called to May, already spinning to face the other soldiers in the area, who were rushing toward him to deal with the threat. And since the only other ally in the area was Tyler, Scott didn't feel bad at all about letting loose, leaving nothing in the cell block but twisted doors and crumpled bodies, many of which had been thrown back so hard they'd snapped.
Which was about when they heard a low growl from Tyler's cell.
"You're not going to blast Tyler, are you?" May asked, still in a teary-eyed panic as she ripped off Bobby's inhibitor collar.
"Only enough to keep him from trying to kill us," Scott said, his eyes narrowed as he watched Tyler pick himself up in his cell. He looked like he was hurting - and not just because Scott had just thrown a concussive wave through the room.
"I've got it," Bobby said as soon as the collar was off. His voice was pinched, and he looked pale in the seconds before he turned to ice. He was shaking and jittery - but as soon as he burst into motion, the whole temperature of the room dropped, and he left ice in his wake as he rushed toward Tyler, the ice rushing ahead of him until it seemed to hit Tyler from the ground up.
Scott blinked, and May gasped. He hadn't seen what she had: Tyler was frozen from the inside out. He wouldn't be moving anytime soon.
"You've got a way to get everyone home, right?" Bobby said, already building an ice sled to move Tyler. "May can show you where Warren is, but I don't know where everyone else is."
"Actually, Warren's the last one unaccounted for," Scott replied, and Bobby grinned.
"Okay then. Meet you outside," Bobby said, throwing a wall of ice ahead of himself as he burst down the hallway, clearly meaning to leave the department in shambles on his way out.
Scott smirked and rushed after Bobby, with May following in a state of obvious shock.
"This is so freaking crazy," May muttered to herself as she rushed fo follow.
"I know," Scott said. "It always is." He didn't say anything else as they followed the trail of ice and frozen soldiers - until, that is, May pointed down a hallway Bobby hadn't turned down, which had a few cells down the line.
"Looks like you guys have been having a party without me," Warren said as Scott and May arrived outside his cell.
Scott frowned at Warren's damaged wings before he stepped back and blasted the door open. "Must have misplaced my invitation. Let's get you out of here, huh?"
Warren reached out to steady himself on Scott's shoulder, grimacing before he asked, "Have you heard from Cassie at all? We haven't seen her for a few days."
Scott frowned, thinking of how scared Cassie had sounded when she had called for help. "She found a phone. I sent a team to her location, and it sounds like they were able to get there. I'm sure she's in about as good of a state as you're in," he added, gesturing to Warren.
"Believe it or not, I'm alright," Warren said. When Scott gave him a dry look, he held his hands up. "Really, I am. The wings hurt, yeah, but they weren't as focused on me as they were the others. Bobby…" He trailed off. "Have you found Bobby?"
Scott looked back down the way he'd come. "Yeah, he's currently letting off some steam. He's got Tyler on ice - literally."
Warren pulled a face at that description but nodded all the same. "He did that to a bunch of guards when we almost escaped. They were about to evaporate us; you never would have known we were even here."
Scott's eyes narrowed as he adjusted himself to give Warren a crutch. "Let's get out of here, and I'll level the place once everyone's out."
"Don't let me slow you down."
Scott nodded, keeping his shoulder under Warren's as the two of them rushed back the way that Scott had come, following Bobby's trail of destruction to daylight - and in constant communication with Lorna and Heather the whole way out.
"Ollie ollie oxenfree," Wade called out with one hand at the side of his mouth. Scott had been clear when they parted company: follow the ping on the map. Find the teeniest tiniest of damsels in distress and un-distress her situation using any means necessary.
So, Wade had been careful to follow Scott's instructions to the letter. He'd found the itty bitty town with a miniscule population and then began searching for the amazing shrinking Cassie Lang.
The only problem he had was that he knew it would be hard to get a kid that had never met him to trust him. Especially when he looked a little bit sketchy compared to the rest of the tiny town's residents. So he was incredibly proud of himself for having kept a tiny bit of tech from years and years ago.
"Now where would I hide if I was a teeny tiny superhero?" Wade said to himself with one finger at his chin.
There's really only one way to know for sure.
Except that we've never truly been the hero type.
"True. I've never been much of a joiner," Wade said as he half walked, half skipped down the main street, repelling the few locals that were there. Very suddenly, he ducked between two buildings, then stuck his head out to look both ways down the street as if he were being followed. When he spotted a young woman directly across the road watching him with an incredibly confused expression, he raised one hand high. "Hey there, neighbor! Beautiful day we're having, eh?"
Very smooth. She's probably not going to run to the authorities at all.
"Good point," Wade said in an undertone before he waved one more time for good measure, then sank slowly back into the shadows between the buildings. He turned on his heel and sprinted for the back of the buildings, ducked behind a dumpster, looked both ways again as he dug in one of his pouches, then barely restrained from shouting 'A HA!' - though both of the voices in his head managed to do that for him. To keep his cover.
I hope this works for the weaponry too.
If it doesn't, someone is going to be very confused when they find what's in those pouches.
"Negative Nancy, who asked you?" Wade asked just before he crossed himself, closed his eyes, flinched and hit himself … with a long-ago stolen Pym disc.
Did it work?
I don't feel any different.
You don't sound any different either. What a disappointment.
"Can two just … hold the phone?" Wade said as he looked around himself. "It worked! We're teeny tiny!"
How is this going to make finding her any easier?
"Well, now we can look in all the tiny places she might be hiding in," Wade answered himself before he started positively skipping … and then realized how big everything around him was.
Maybe you should have gone big instead…
Are you crazy? How would he ever see her then, huh?
"Too late now," Wade said before he started wandering, looking behind and under things that simply weren't feasible hiding spots unless Cassie had gone much smaller.
He started calling for her - but not loudly enough to draw attention to himself as he tried to figure out where she might possibly hide at this size and still be able to see when help had actually arrived for her.
"Now … where would the world's tiniest, sweetest superhero be hiding?" Wade said to himself before he once again started skipping as his preferred mode of travel. There wasn't much to the town… not really. Just a few blocks worth. And honestly, most of the business was on the main street and just around the corners from it. So there really wasn't much to see or do.
And like every small town in the north, the places that had the business were the places that offered the locals essentials. Like food, alcohol, and the postal service. He was actually surprised to find an entire restaurant in addition to the food-serving bar. "Fancy schmancy," Wade muttered. "Biggest little small town I've seen in years."
Probably because this is the fun zone for all those evil soldiers.
It's a dirty job -
Bu-ut, no one has to do it.
"And yet, here we are looking at all the red lights shining brightly on the taiga," Wade said. There was no doubt for Wade that this tiny berg was doing as well as it was simply due to how close it was to the facility that Scott was headed off to trash. There just wasn't any way for money to flow into the place otherwise.
But that also meant that Cassie was right to hide, even from relatively nice-looking people.
Wade's stomach grumbled, and he rested his hand over it. "Alright, Mr. Grumbly, you're right. We should get some food. I've got enough voices and opinions in my head. Don't need to add you to the discussion, too."
So the bar, the restaurant, or the grocery store?
There's a gas station too. Bet they'll have overpriced candy.
Cassie is way too old to be drawn in by candy.
Why? We're not.
"I could go for a Snickers…." Wade shifted his path, dramatically looking across the street before he ran like hell to cross it - not like there was a traffic rush. He looked into the gas station first - not because he thought it was the right spot but because it was the smallest option. It took him over an hour to look into the most likely spots where she could have both stolen a little bit of food and kept a view of the main road to look for a familiar heroic face.
"Too cramped, mama bear," Wade said to himself when he came up empty at the gas station. So, he started for the restaurant, hoping that she wouldn't be in the bar.
He spent all of fifteen minutes there. The space was bigger, and the windows facing out into main street were big, easy to see out of … "Too few places to hide, papa bear," Wade decided … simply because, oddly enough, that seemed far too open. He even was extra careful leaving the place because he was sure that, even at his size, the movement would be enough to draw the eye of a diligent customer.
But that left the bar and the little grocery store.
She ain't gonna find a salad in that bar.
She might be able to keep watch on the soldiers, though.
"Oh, man, I hate those guys," Wade said, slumping his shoulders and halfway dragging his feet as he dragged himself across the street again to start looking through the bar.
He kept to the wall as he watched the barflies and regulars dotted around the place - all the while looking hard to see if Cassie was anywhere. There were so many places to hide.
Under booths, along the foot rest at the bar, tucked into corners and on shelves … which meant Wade had a lot of quiet, cautious searching to do. The whole while, he kept a lookout for a teeny, tiny blonde, and it took him far too long by his measure to even get close.
The bragging from the guards was enough to make Wade want to start a fresh war - even if he knew they were drunk and blowing their own importance up dramatically. Yet, he kept his head down as best he could as he scoured the bar.
He'd been there for well over two hours when finally, finally, he saw tiny movement from a tiny person in the most unlikely spot to be discovered on the bar: the lone napkin dispenser near the wall. But it was an obstacle course to get there and check it out - and even at that, Wade wasn't sure if he was going to find Cassie … or a mouse.
He was almost to the napkin dispenser when he heard a small but firm voice say, "Tell me who you are and how you're able to be my size or we're going to have a problem."
Hearing that - and hearing the fact that Cassie's voice was shaking even though she was trying to put on a tough face - Wade held up both hands. "Hey, Cassielang," he said, mashing her name into one word, "don't worry. I'm with the good guys! Today I am, I mean. I'm representing the good guys."
Cassie narrowed her eyes as she peeked around the edge of the napkin dispenser before she yanked him around to where she was, putting one finger to her lips, her expression urgent. "Who are you, and who sent you?"
"Ya know, I'm not sure what to call him right now? I mean … is he still using the old code name officially, or … I'm gonna guess that Big Daddy Summers wouldn't roll off the tongue like most would think …"
At that, though, Cassie let her shoulders drop. "No, that works. I don't think he's using the old codename; I don't know."
"Not yet," Wade said, then grandly swept into an exaggerated bow. "Wade W. Wilson. At your service, teeny tiny hero."
Cassie nodded, awkwardly returning the bow. "Um… Stature. Nice to meet you, I guess." She held her arms close to herself and glanced toward some of the men at the bar. "Come on; let's go somewhere else."
"Somewhere else like our escape plan or somewhere else like … go big in a big way real fast and drop kick this bar toward the facility?" He held both hands out openly. "I'm good either way!"
"I really just want to get out of here," Cassie admitted. "And if you know where the others are, I want to help get them out, too. I just don't know where to go."
"Perfect. Let me just …" He started digging in his pockets until he found a handful of throwing stars that he shoved her way. "You need some weaponry … what are you good with? Small guns? Big swords? Grenades? Gadgets? Short sticks of dynamite? I have all the basics."
"Mostly gadgets," Cassie said, her eyes suddenly wider. "I've been learning a little bit from Kate, but… I'm better with fighting smart or fighting big. Not really good at in-between."
"Well … I have the coolest gadget for you," Wade said as he took what looked to be a watch off his wrist and handed it to her. "Go on. This could be big trouble for the baddies once you figure it out right. It's just a little teleporting gadget I like to play with now and again." He started to chuckle. "Pair that up with your teeny to big trick. Gonna make some of those guys wet themselves."
Cassie broke into a small grin at that. "Yeah, I could get creative," she agreed. She paused and bit her lip. "So, um, is there a reason he didn't send anyone I know? I don't know who else was in that place…"
"Small group for the rescue. Not even a full handful. He knew I could get you out of here easy enough if I could find you. And I know where to go to catch up to them, so …" He waved for her to hurry up. "Come on. I haven't seen my lil nephew in a few months now. He's probably gone and gotten himself in a pinch. Again."
"Oh, who are you related to?" Cassie asked, relieved to at least have an explanation for why this stranger was there.
"Well … that's a little complicated," Wade said as they started to leave. "Technically, it's more of a gene thing on my unwilling brother's side."
"I mean, I get it. I'm an Avenger; there's some weird connections all around." Cassie glanced over her shoulder just to check that they hadn't been noticed before she rushed ahead with him.
"Exactly," Wade agreed. "The only thing I have in common with him is my forcibly spliced X-gene." He shrugged both shoulders quickly. "Not really a mutant - technically. But … close enough." With a clear grin even through the mask, he waved her forward before he broke into a swinging skip. "Walk this way!"
Cassie shook her head in disbelief at her rescuer's antics before she rushed again to keep up, relieved when they emerged behind the restaurant. She returned to her normal size and waited for him to join her. "Do you have, like, a code name or…?"
"Deadpool," he said. "Probably should have led with that, right?" He tipped his head toward the parked trucks nearby. "Let's liberate a ride!"
"Oh, yeah, I've heard Kate's dad talk about you," Cassie said, letting Wade take the lead in the illegal part of things.
"Awww, squishy old Hawk," he said as he started checking doors until he found an unlocked one - and then quickly searched for the keys, which were tucked into the sun visor. "Look - no hotwiring today!"
"Best luck I've had in… however long it's been," Cassie muttered as she climbed into the passenger seat and dragged her hands down her face, visibly exhausted but still determined to help. "Okay, how do we find where I came from? I was pretty lost in the woods by the time I found this place."
"Follow the dirty old two track," Wade said, tipping his head toward the obviously beaten trail before he put it into drive and headed that way. "Those creeps come down here every chance they get for booze. One road in."
Cassie was quiet as she let Wade follow the road, her hands clasped in her lap as she watched the trees pass out the window. She didn't know Wade well enough to confide in him, but she was worried about whether or not anyone had survived. After all, the last she'd seen of her friends, the department had tried to kill them.
The first guard that they saw - walking down the trail with a rifle slung across his shoulders - Wade shifted into a higher gear and swerved to hit the guy. "Oops. "
Cassie winced at the thud but didn't object, just hanging on tighter to her own hands. "Guard means we're on the right track, anyway," she said tightly.
"Sweetie, I've been in and out of these facilities for nearly thirty years now. I know where I'm going and what I'm doing - and what I'm doing is making roadkill out of losers."
"History, huh? That's where the unwilling brother came from?" Cassie asked.
"You got it," he said, sounding bitter.
"Sorry. That sucks."
"Best not to dwell on it or I might lose my good mood," Wade said, moving faster still toward the facility. They were sliding at the turns and curves in the road, branches were hitting the windows, and Wade just kept the hammer down, half singing to himself between swerving toward random guards stationed along the way. The last one they spotted saw them coming and started to run, but Wade shook his head, drew a pistol and shot the guy before he ran him over.
They only got a glimpse of the facility itself for a second before they saw what would have been an explosion if it had been fire. What it looked like instead was a sudden protrusion of ice that hit a helicopter before it could take off, and Cassie let out an audible gasp of delight.
"He's still alive; thank God."
"That sexy little popsicle? He better be. He's important to a major side plot."
"He's the whole reason I was able to call for help," Cassie explained. "He got me out, and last I saw, they were trying to kill him and Angel and May…"
"Whaaaaat? Little bitty baby spider? Noooooo. That's not allowed. Everyone knows you don't kill the friendly neighborhood whatevers. It goes against the creator's rulebook! Unprofessional!"
"Hey, they wanted her for the same reason as me. We've got our legacy powers, but we're not mutants. They want to know how that happened."
"We've all got our legacy powers," Wade said. "Doesn't mean we have to share." He stopped the truck by sliding it sideways. "I'm going to see if I can help them out; you can follow or you can jump ahead as you see fit, m'kay? Just … look for the rest of the group. There are a bunch that went MIA. Like … all the Summers kids, two princes, all those you mentioned before … probably some more if we go looking. No telling who they've got packaged up in storage. Perverts."
Cassie was already getting bigger as Wade talked. "I'll just tear the roof off of the place and see what I find inside," she decided.
"There ya go!" Wade sounded delighted as he drew both of his katanas and started at a dead run toward a group of guards. Half of them realized he was headed their way and started shooting - and hitting him for all of the time it took for him to get those blades spinning. But the shots weren't slowing him down, just making him swear.
Their timing, as it turned out, couldn't have been better, either. Not only were most of the people who had been inside the facility on their way out but other heroes who had been alerted to the rescue mission in progress had arrived, too - including Natasha and Clint, who hadn't been far behind Wade, since they had been working together. And the guards Wade had missed never expected the Black Widow to be batting clean up for him.
"Hey, Deadpool," Clint called out as he announced himself by shooting several of the guards who had shot Wade. "You got a bead on my son-in-law yet?"
"Just got here old-hawk," Wade said before cutting through a guard entirely. "But he probably isn't too far."
"Good," Clint said - and the lack of a joke told Wade exactly how focused he was.
On seeing the state Clint was in, Wade nodded to himself and went into his own hyper-focused state, cutting through any guard too close at inhuman speeds and insane accuracy, deflecting bullets with his blades until the gunfire shifted toward Clint and Cassie. Before more than a couple rounds could get loose their way, he put the swords away and drew his guns to start shooting … with ricochets and refractory shots that were taking down multiple assailants with single shots. He kept it up until that area was oddly still, and then, he called out to Clint.
"Well … I think I made a little opening for you, so … you know. Age before beauty."
"You shouldn't have," Clint said, already rushing ahead.
"Aw shucks. I was just hoping for the back view," Wade teased.
"Way to make it weird, Wade. Way to make it weird."
"Commenting on the arms seemed off brand if I'm following you. But it might make me a tricep-ual,," Wade called back, then waved at Natasha with the tips of his fingers. "Oh hey! Long time no see!"
"Yes, hello," Natasha said, already rushing toward the opening Wade had made them. "Scott just radioed ahead with a position. He's got two of our missing people, and Lorna has most of the rest."
"Who needs the backup most?" Wade asked as he reloaded, running alongside her.
"Scott," Natasha said. "It's just him, one panicked spider, and an Angel with broken wings. He's holding up okay, but Heather and Lorna have Alex blasting guards, and Bobby seems to be holding his own."
"East or we-east?"
"East. Thank you."
"Watch out for secondary explosions," Wade called out as he took the corner at speed - and had to dodge a bit of rubble as Cassie followed through and took the roof off, making it much easier to see who was where. .
"Awww, thanks, giant girl!" Wade called up, then started bouncing off of the walls to deliver some nasty hits to the guards that were headed toward them. "Where you hiding, Summerses?" Wade shouted down the hall as he attacked the guards.
In answer, he saw a red beam shoot straight up a couple hallways down from where he was. He wasn't sure if Scott had done it on purpose or if he was just having great luck, but either way, now he knew where to go.
"So he does know how to play," Wade said to himself as he dove in freshly - making plenty of noise so Scott knew it was him backing them up.
He got there just in time to see Scott blast several guards through a wall and then turn his gaze toward Wade - no visor and no beam, though. "Did you find Cassie?" was the first thing he asked.
Wade thumbed over his shoulder. "Sure did, big guy. Are we killing now?"
"Just anyone who tries to stop us," Scott said. "The way you came through was clear?"
"Should be now," Wade said, though he waited for the others to catch up before he looked Angel over. "Baby bird going to make it okay?"
"I'm fine," Warren said thickly.
"I know, I know. Just … thinking of old times, that's all," Wade said before he turned on his heel to once again skip to catch up to Scott as he reloaded. "Using up so much ammo today."
"Me too. Pretty sure I'm close to where I'd usually run out, but I haven't done this in a while," Scott told him in an undertone. "Your timing's spectacular."
"Not to toot my own horn, but … I know." He blew Scott a kiss then holstered the guns in favor of the swords again. "It's my quadruple-ary mutant power."
"Quarternary," May said. "Hey, you're Deadpool, right? My dad told me about you."
"Potato, schmomato," Wade said. "Hey baby spider!"
"Doesn't matter anyhow because you're not a mutant," Angel put in, sounding irritated already.
"We can talk about this later," Scott said. "May, stick with Deadpool. I've got Angel. Let's get out and then bring the building down."
"Cassie already tore off the roof," Wade said - sounding just like a kid tattle telling on someone.
"Too bad none of us can fly right now," May said, glancing toward Warren and frowning.
"I'm fine," he said again. "Not the first time they've been broken." He barely restrained himself from ruffling his feathers as they pushed to move and Warren took it a step further when he picked up a discarded rifle from one of the guards Scott had wrecked. "As usual, I've got your back, Fearless."
Wade and May plowed their way through the oncoming soldiers - hitting them before Scott could blast them in an effort to help him not have to single-handedly wreck the complex. After all, they might need his firepower to get everyone out safely. It wasn't enough just to find each other - they had to leave, too.
Wade was whirling his katanas once again, leaving an eerie ringing in the air as he deflected and cut through a hail of bullets headed their way, but the soldiers were still the ones at the disadvantage when caught between Wade, Bobby, and Scott … and Lorna and Heather on the other side.
When they met up with Lorna and Heather, Heather had managed to get the tubes drained and opened, and the two of them had done what they could to rouse the three kids that had been stuck in the tubes. Rachel and Billy were already starting to come around, though they were very clearly under the influence of something. Both of them were off-balance, nauseous, and dopey … but all of the ledes and monitors were off of them, and both of them were just conscious enough to be concerned about their lack of clothing.
James, on the other hand, was entirely out of it, his eyes half open as he stared straight ahead at nothing - but Heather had also been overly careful not to disrupt some of the ledes he was wearing. Aside from being far more involved than those that were on Billy and Rachel, something about them had her uneasy and entirely unwilling to remove them. And Lorna had agreed with her. But that meant that to move James, they needed to bring some of the gear with them - at least until Hank could get a look at it and make sure it wasn't anything that would harm him if they removed it. And she sure wasn't about to draw any attention to that, either.
Heather was doing her best to help Rachel get moving after she stole clothes for their friends that had been stuck in the Genesis tubes. And while Heather was with Rachel, and Tommy was trying to get to Billy, Steve got there first all while swearing to Tommy that he'd get Billy out.
Nate had rushed over to help his brother, too - with help from Wade to get him at least half dressed. But before Wade could slow Nate down, Nate tried to hoist his brother up and let out a woosh of breath when he realized how much heavier James was. "What the futz- Dad?"
"Not now," Scott said almost without breathing. "I know, but not now, okay? Just … let's get out of here first."
"I've got you, little time-skipper," Wade said in an attempt to redirect Nate, taking up James's other side so the two of them could get him moving.
"We'll talk later, I promise," Scott said, steadily ignoring the look Lorna was giving him. He already knew what was going on; this had only confirmed it.
Nate frowned toward his dad, but honestly, he was so relieved to see his family back together that he didn't question it. For now. He still had so many questions, not the least of which wondering what James had been through to have called for help the way he had. His big brother had never sounded like that. And he'd never let Nate hear him sound like that.
And the way Scott was looking…
"Is Kate okay?" Nate found himself asking, even though he now knew that what Alex had seen had been a lie, probably planted in his head by the Cuckoos. But with all that everyone had been through, he wasn't going to rest until even the chance that Alex had seen even part of the truth was laid to rest.
"Worried about you more than anything," Scott said, his expression softening - but only a little. "David missed you."
"Yeah," Nate said, his breath caught in his throat. He had spent so long preparing himself to be a single father, thinking about how he would watch out for David when he got home and hope desperately that he wouldn't inherit the family curse… that thinking of David now suddenly felt like more relief than he could handle.
And thinking of Kate… god, he hadn't been able to breathe when Alex had told her she was dead. He'd already tasted losing her once, when Hydra had kidnapped her. He'd known he would break. And when it had happened… he was still picking himself up. It didn't feel real yet; it probably wouldn't until he could see her for himself.
And so, he fell silent - though that left him with other, similarly uncomfortable thoughts as his companions. Like what he was going to tell Scott about how he'd dealt with the Cuckoos. About what the others would think of his rage. About what something like this would do to the X-Men as a team after so much trauma. About everything.
With the roof largely missing thanks to Cassie, he was so caught up in his thoughts that he genuinely almost missed the fact that they were out of the building. His only clue was the fact that he could hear other heroes calling out to them.
He broke out of his worries just in time to see Natasha rushing toward him, her expression dripping with concern. Before he even had the chance to process that, she had taken his face in her hands, worry turning to anger when she looked him over and cataloged every bruise and cut.
"Hey, Mom," he said, though he stopped short of trying to pull away from her when she tightened her hands on his arms the second he started to do just that.
"I need you to tell me everything," she said in a tone that he knew he couldn't argue with.
"Mom, I-"
"I promise, Nathan, that I am completely unimpressed with bravado, and if you try to tell me that you're fine, I'll take it as a personal slight against my intelligence. You're obviously not," Natasha said, her words sharp but her gaze still on Nate and then on the others who had been rescued.
"You got a full 'Nathan'," Alex said, though his laugh turned into a very loud "ow" when Lorna pulled him over to look at his arm and gave him such a look.
"There's no one left from that facility that you can punish," Nate said after a moment of thinking over what he wanted to say - which wasn't much to begin with. But he knew that was what she was really after. "Dad … kind of handled it."
"I noticed," Natasha said, and Scott simply gave her a wordless shrug in response. She shook her head at him and then pulled Nate into a long hug. "Still. I want to know."
Nate nodded once and closed his eyes tightly to try and keep his emotions in check. "I just really want to see Kate."
"Lucky you, then. She's flying the rescue plane," Natasha said, jerking her head over her shoulder to point him in the right direction.
"Thanks," Nate said before he headed off. He knew she'd push for more, but honestly, that could wait.
He honestly wasn't surprised to find Kate right in the thick of things, either. It looked like she and Mia had teamed up to deal with the last of the patrolling guards on the perimeter, and Kate was in the middle of collecting her arrows. She had a slight limp and was favoring one leg, which was probably why she hadn't been faster than Natasha at getting to him and was back with the plane. But he was so relieved to see her that he jumped right past concern over her limp to relief that she was alive. And as soon as he saw her, he ran the rest of the way to her and pulled her into a hug, practically clutching her to him.
"Hey, handsome," Kate said, though her voice was strained - and not just because of how tightly he was holding onto her. "Like what you see?"
"You have no idea."
Something about Nate's tone made Kate drop her shoulders, and she simply leaned into him, moving so that she could put her arms around his neck too. "Let's never do this again, okay? Now I know how you felt when Hydra had me, and, god, let's never do this again," she said, her tone shifting halfway through her sentence until she was clutching onto him as tightly as he was holding her.
Instead of replying like she was expecting, he nodded as he held on tight. He wasn't in nearly as bad a shape as some of them, but looking at the injuries from the rest of the captives was rough.
Especially when Steve and Tommy came their way - and Mia, who had been trying to give Nate and Kate some privacy and was prepping the jet for takeoff, gasped and teleported directly over to them, stopping short of actually touching anyone when Tommy looked so lopsided and Steve looked so furious as he helped Tommy hobble along.
"What…?" Mia stared, both hands over her mouth.
"Hey," Tommy said with a weak wave and a smile. "Long time no see?"
She hesitated for a moment longer as she looked him over before she very carefully decided to give him a gentle hug. "I mean … if you're going to be dramatic like this…"
"Me? Dramatic? Wrong twin," Tommy said, shaking his head as Steve gave him a disbelieving look. "How is Billy, by the way? Have you guys got him out of the fishbowl yet?" That time, the careless tone dropped, and Mia could see panic behind his eyes, even if he wasn't showing it as much as others.
"He's slowly waking up," Mia said, taking over for Steve with a quiet look passed between them.
"But he's okay, right? No… no extra add-ons?" He looked down at his arm - or where his arm used to be - closed his eyes, and added, "Or… the opposite?"
"Doesn't seem to be any different, just drugged," Mia said, though she was avoiding looking toward Tommy's missing appendage. "What happened?"
"Oh, you know, someone shot Mom, and I ran right into a trap, and - hey, is she okay? I assume she is, but also, nothing got turned into red, angry smoke or magicked away, so…" Once again, it was obvious to Mia, at least, that Tommy was terrified and trying to hide it.
"She's alright. Mostly. She had a Strange intervention from going too deep with magic. I guess there were some pretty nasty reverberations he was trying to keep in check when she was hurt and angry?"
"That sounds right." Tommy took a deep breath, held it, and then gestured to the jet with his remaining hand. "So, um, home? Home sounds good. It sounds really good. Are you flying? Do you serve peanuts? What's the plan?"
"We'll figure it out," Mia said as she took a hold of his good arm and, a moment later, teleported them into the jet. "First choice on window seats?"
"You know me so well," Tommy said, already sitting down at a window seat - with his missing arm on the side people wouldn't see when they boarded. He obviously wasn't ready to talk about it or to draw attention to it, and Mia was still in so much shock that she wasn't about to try, either.
"So I don't think we have peanuts, but we do have granola bars, which are kind of close? Sorry, this is an alcohol free flight," she said after a moment, trying to tease him enough to get him to relax. Which was a weird feeling.
"Darn," Tommy deadpanned. He glanced at her and then broke into a soft smile. "Hey, you okay? You look like you haven't, you know, eaten or slept or anything, and you're on the rescue committee." He held up his hand. "Not that you're not always gorgeous. I just - you know what I mean."
"Well, yeah," she said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she sat down facing him. "We were all a little worried, you know."
"Well, we pulled through," Tommy said. "And, hey, I've got some stories to tell. Mostly scary ones, but I did have an encounter with a rat in an air conditioning vent that was harrowing," he said with real relish, just to get her to smile.
"I'm all ears," Mia said, settling in knowing that Tommy could likely talk himself into a calmer disposition, and Tommy grinned, launching into a dramatic retelling that seemed only to get more ridiculous the more he saw her smiling.
As more of the former captives started traipsing toward the jets and toward medical help, Cassie caught up to May and Warren, shrinking as she took each step until she was their size - and holding her bleeding side. Some guards had tagged her while she was a huge target; that was the downside of going big.
"Cassie!" May hissed, immediately jumping to concern, especially after spending so long worrying that she had died somewhere out in the woods. The way their luck had gone, May really did think that was the only possible ending to their story.
"I'm fine," Cassie promised.
"Oh, yeah, you look fine," May said, rolling her eyes as she put her shoulder underneath Cassie's to help her the rest of the way to the Quinjet.
"Better than you do. You look like you've seen a ghost, and I just look like usual after a hard mission," Cassie pointed out.
"I feel like I've seen a ghost," May said - and then promptly burst into tears.
Cassie looked like she wasn't sure what to do, glancing over at Warren, who was seated on one of the cots in the hold of the Quinjet as a doctor looked him over. He winced in sympathy and then waved her over, leading the two girls to hobble-hop their way to the Quinjet, Cassie supporting May more than anything even though she was the one actively bleeding.
And May did feel bad about that part. She really did. But she couldn't seem to stop crying, either. Now that they were rescued, she just… she couldn't stop.
"Doesn't feel real yet, right?" Warren asked, his tone purely sympathetic, though that set off a fresh wave of crying for May. She was humiliated by her reaction, and that was only making her cry more, which made her more embarrassed, which made her cry more.
"Hey, little spider," Wade sang out, seeing the problem and practically sliding over to be there for May. "It's okay. Let it all out. You get that from your dad."
May let out a choked sound and looked back up at him. "How are you even real right now?" she asked, her voice wavering. Wade opened his mouth to answer, but she realized her error almost immediately and held up her hand. "I mean, I thought you were dead. Dad always told stories about you in the past tense."
Wade put a hand over his heart. "Awww," he said in an exaggerated tone, "he missed me, didn't he? I'm going to have to give that spider the biggest smooch when I see him again. And that should be…" He looked up at something she couldn't see. "Soon, right?"
That's the plan.
"See? Everything's under control," Wade said easily.
May shook her head, not at all sure what to make of him. But he seemed intent on giving her a hug and watching out for her, and she felt like she'd leaned too much on Warren lately anyway. And her dad had talked about Wade affectionately, so… she let it happen.
But somehow, Wade had been right: they didn't have to wait long at all before May's dad arrived, looking frazzled even with his mask on. He must have been in the latter wave of heroes to come through, and he was practically sprinting through rubble looking for which group had May.
"Dad!" May couldn't stop herself from screaming for him, and as soon as he heard her, he bounded her way, grabbed her, and wrapped her in the biggest hug she'd ever gotten from him.
And as soon as she was out of Wade's arms and in her dad's, she fell apart even harder, somehow, clutching her arms around his neck, barely even comprehending that he was reassuring her.
And, at some point, she could hear him talking to Wade, but her ears were ringing, and all she wanted to do was sleep. She could hear him laughing in pure disbelief, but the simple sound of her dad laughing was enough to convince her she was safe.
In no time at all, she was fast asleep, still clasped onto Peter, absolutely exhausted.
There were a few different options for transportation for those that had been held captive, but Alex had surprised Lorna when he asked, in a soft whisper, to go in the smaller jet that wasn't fast filling with Scott and his kids.
And then, when Alex had seen the raised-eyebrow look she gave him, he'd sighed and tried to deflect: "Nate thought his dad was dead. Let's not be in the way, huh?"
Lorna gave him a look that clearly communicated to him that she didn't believe him, but he looked like death warmed over, and she was so relieved to see him alive and in one piece (unlike her nephew, who she was badly worried about), that she didn't call him out in front of everyone.
Not yet, anyway.
When they arrived at the jet, they saw that Betsy and Heather were talking over the unconscious body of Tyler Creed, checking a few ledes that were obviously meant to keep him from becoming a problem in mid-flight. But that meant that they were distracted enough that Lorna could call Alex out while she put a splint on his arm to at least get it pointed the right way.
"Are you going to tell me why you're avoiding your brother, or do I have to wait until I give you this shot of morphine and interrogate you then?" Lorna asked, one eyebrow raised as she flashed the needle under his gaze.
Alex winced and held one hand up - since Lorna had hold of the other one to splint his arm. "Hey, now," he said, knowing the threat wasn't an idle one. "Let's not do anything too crazy."
"I've been worried sick," Lorna told him quietly. "And I wasn't expecting to see you skirting around him. So … tell me. I don't want to have to act like Natasha."
"Missed you too," Alex said with a winning smile and then winced when she touched his arm as she helped him get set up. "Ow."
"Yeah, I don't like that at all."
"I'm not a fan either," Alex pointed out. "It's been broken since they caught us."
"Alex."
"Hey, could be worse," Alex said. "I mean, it's still attached, right?" He'd meant to joke, but his tone fell, because they'd both seen Tommy when they were loading up and that… that was bad.
"I think your brother covered that for us," Lorna said as she started to clean up his good arm so she could actually get an IV started for him.
"Yeah." Alex watched her work and then let out all his breath through his cheeks. "So, before I answer you, I need you to tell me straight what happened when we got caught. Because I saw him when we were all unloaded at this place. Scott was here. And I'm not sure what was real and what wasn't," he admitted in a whisper only when she moved close enough that he was almost breathing the words into her ear more than speaking them.
"They never had Scott." Lorna was matching his tone to keep their discussion private, too. "Kate saved him from the capture at the tower. Swears up and down he was closest."
Alex almost smirked but couldn't quite manage it with the subject matter at hand. "Sounds like a lie to me."
"I think so too, but I'm not willing to push it." She reached up to brush the hair out of his face. "So. Telepaths, huh?"
"Yeah, apparently," Alex said, wincing into a smile. "You'd think I'd be used to that, right? Just need a minute to shrug it off."
Lorna took a moment to steal a kiss. "Take your time. But you're also getting your painkillers, too. I want you back up to speed sooner than later."
Alex reached up to run his good hand through her hair before she could finish the IV. "Yeah, love you too."
And at the far end of the compound, Bobby was finally running out of steam. He'd just been building, using the cold and snow that was already around them to break apart the facility and any vehicles or guards that were still left standing. He wasn't even trying to go in a straight line out, even though he was upset. He wanted the place off the map.
And then, there was a sharp kzapt sound that was all-too-familiar to Bobby, and he skated out of the way as everything got flattened. Everything Bobby hadn't gotten to or Cassie hadn't crushed or the others hadn't exploded… it was all flattened
Normally, at that point, Bobby would have said something funny. Or maybe he would even have called out a "welcome back." But when he looked toward the source of the blast and saw how furious his old friend looked… well, he hadn't had much of a quip prepared anyway.
With nothing left to take his frustration out on, Bobby pointed himself toward the jet, finally feeling exhausted because there wasn't anything else he could feel. He was just grateful that the facility was where it was, because the Canadian winter was honestly making him feel stronger the longer he was out there.
"Now, dere is a sight," called out a familiar voice, and Bobby finally broke a smile as he turned toward the sound. The last time he'd seen Remy, they had been attacked by the department, and Remy had gone down hard. Seeing him now, even obviously still sore and moving slower than usual, Bobby could feel a lot of the anger that had been pushing him forward starting to evaporate.
The anger was still there, but it was hard to hold onto it when Remy was looking up at him and grinning like he was.
Since there was no one left to fight, either, there was no reason for Bobby to be as big as he was. And he wanted to get on Remy's level and check on him, too. So, he started to shed the snow built up around him until he made a soft, snow-cushioned landing, looking more like himself but in almost clear ice - and with a bit more ice around one leg just to shore it up.
"You okay?" Bobby asked, because he honestly couldn't think of anything else to say when he was in that weird headspace between the transition out of fury and the relief of knowing Remy was there.
Remy laughed and held his hands out to the sides in a broad, showy gesture. "'M always okay, me. Good as new and wit' a new coat an' all."
Bobby let out a disbelieving laugh. "Looks good on you, too."
"Dat was never a point of discussion," Remy said, grinning so crookedly Bobby's way that Bobby was surprised into yet another laugh.
"Oh, hey, I sent a cat on ice ahead of me while I was working - did Ty get set up?" Bobby asked, sliding more than walking along with Remy as they headed toward the others.
"Mm-hmm," Remy agreed with a nod. "Once he thaws out, ol' Blue take care of it."
"Pretty sure I've got May convinced I'm a supervillain," Bobby joked lightly, though without the usual lightness to it.
"Ain't got no cape," Remy said, peeking behind Bobby for effect. "Yet."
In response, Bobby held Remy's gaze and wordlessly grew out an ice cape from his shoulders, grinning wider.
Remy scrunched up his nose with an unimpressed shrug. "So-so."
"What? I look great," Bobby said.
"Seem to recall Miss Kitty t'inkin' de same ting wit' her first few outfits, too."
"Wow. Just wow," Bobby said, though he was still smiling.
Remy chuckled at that, though. "Cain't remember who use to say 'less is more'."
"I mean…" Bobby gestured down at himself. "Technically, this is all just me."
"Dat's what I mean. Don't need no cape."
"Okay, okay. Still think I look amazing, though," Bobby said, letting the cape drift off into snow behind him. He was quiet for a second as they headed back to the jet. "Glad you're okay, by the way. I hope America read you the riot act for trying to protect an invulnerable girl, you lunatic."
"She fine."
"Yeah, that's what I said," Bobby shot back, shaking his head at him.
"She been too worried 'bout her girl."
"Yeah…" Bobby looked toward the jet. "This is gonna be rough, huh?"
Remy met his gaze and slowly nodded his head in agreement. "What you know 'bout all de others?"
"I only really saw May and Cassie and Warren," Bobby admitted. "But I know what they were after, and I know who I've heard getting discussed. And I know what they wanted with me, so… not hard to figure out from there."
"Then what makes what you did anything close to bein' a villain?"
"Hey, I didn't say I was. I just felt bad for scaring the baby spider," Bobby clarified. "Those bastards got exactly what was coming to them; I'm not sorry about that part."
"Good." Remy gestured to the last few steps for the jet. "Den you get that knee looked at by someone that gon' help you not look like old man winter with a cane."
Bobby smirked at that. "If I give the cane peppermint stripes, does that help or hurt?" he teased.
"Don' tink you ready to find out jes yet."
Bobby's smirk turned into a grin. "It's good to be back."
